Made in Manchester: De Bruyne and McTominay lead Napoli to a 2-0 win over Sassuolo

By Canadian Press on August 23, 2025.

MILAN (AP) — Napoli’s former Premier League players lit up Serie A on the opening day of the new season on Saturday.

Kevin De Bruyne netted in his debut and Scott McTominay scored the opener as Antonio Conte’s team kicked off its Serie A title defense with a comfortable 2-0 win at Serie B champion Sassuolo.

McTominay joined Napoli from Manchester United last year in a move that was so successful he ended up being named Serie A player of the year.

And the 28-year-old picked up where he left off last season by scoring Napoli’s first goal of the new campaign in the 17th minute, peeling away from his marker to head Matteo Politano’s cross from the right into the top near corner.

McTominay also sent a fierce effort crashing off the crossbar in first-half stoppage time, while Politano hit the post before Napoli doubled its lead in somewhat strange circumstances.

De Bruyne whipped in a free kick from wide on the left — practically on the touchline — and it went over everyone in the area before bouncing on the ground and going into the far bottom corner.

The 34-year-old De Bruyne, a two-time Premier League player of the season, joined Napoli in June on a free transfer after 10 years at Manchester City.

Sassuolo ended the match with 10 men after midfielder Ismaël Koné was sent off following a second yellow card, with 11 minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Genoa drew 0-0 at home to Lecce.

AC Milan played newly promoted Cremonese later Saturday in Massimiliano Allegri’s first match back on the Rossoneri bench.

Gian Piero Gasperini was also set for his first match in charge of Roma, after leaving Atalanta, with his team hosting Bologna.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press